Adventures in Italian dentistry

Ever had a toothache in a foreign country?

I've been feeling some tooth pain lately, so I went to a dentist. He's Italian, but speaks fluent English and graduated from a reputable dental school in the US. I told him what was wrong. He sprayed some cold air on my teeth, took a couple of x-rays, and declared that I need root canal, core build-up and a cubic zirconia crown on tooth 16. He gave me a printed price estimate that took my breath away. (His office is on a ritzy street, and I suspect there is an inflated price to help pay for the ritzy rent.)

I was not prepared to take action immediately. Instead, I emailed my DC dentist and asked his opinion. (I had just seen him in April, at which time he did x-rays.) He replied that he'd be surprised if I needed such extensive work on that tooth. He referred to the tooth as if it were in the very back of my mouth, which it isn't.

So I looked up tooth numbering systems on the internet. Turns out the US uses a different numbering system than many other countries. In the US, tooth 16 is the 3rd molar, the wisdom tooth, on the upper left. In the FDI numbering system, tooth 16 is the 1st molar on the upper right.

The strange thing is that the tooth in question, the one that hurts, is the first molar on the upper left. I emailed the DC guy again to let him know it's a different tooth, and I'm awaiting his reply.

Meanwhile, I'm seeking an opinion from another dentist in Rome. I've called several, and it appears that dentists, along with people from all other professions in Italy, take the entire month of August off for vacation. I'll just keep trying.